Lola’s POV

Dawn bled into the sky like spilled peach wine, soft but certain. I rose before it did.

I didn’t wait for anyone. Not Nova. Not my instructors. Not even my parents.

I needed this.

Not to prove anything to anyone else, but to myself.

The training grounds were quiet, dewy grass clinging to my boots as I stepped into the center ring. I set the dummies in place, tied on the weight cuffs, and began.

Strike. Step. Twist. Block. Again.

I wasn’t just practicing forms, I was shedding the weight I’d carried since I could remember. The weight of being Gannon’s daughter. Eleanora’s heir. The girl the pack...